Program guide with spoiler prevention

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12574604-B2
Application number	US-202418421787-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 24, 2024
Priority date	Jun 9, 2023
Publication date	Mar 10, 2026
Grant date	Mar 10, 2026

Abstract

Systems and methods related to improved program guide are provided. In one example, a method includes: receiving a first user request for browsing a program guide for digital programs on a client device, transmitting data corresponding to the program guide to the client device, and displaying the program guide in a user interface. The program guide includes multiple program preview boards, and each program preview board corresponds to a digital program or a recorded digital program and includes information related to the digital program or the recorded digital program. The method further includes providing a first selectable option for the user to enable or disable a first spoiler prevention feature and enabling or disabling the first spoiler prevention feature based on the user's selection. The first spoiler prevention feature is configured to hide a part of the information related to the digital program in the corresponding program preview.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method, comprising:
receiving a first user request for browsing a program guide for digital programs on a client device; in response to the first user request, transmitting data corresponding to the program guide to the client device; displaying the program guide to allow the user to browse the program guide in a user interface of the client device, wherein the program guide comprises a plurality of program preview boards, each program preview board corresponding to a digital program or a recorded digital program and comprising information related to the digital program or the recorded digital program; determining whether the client device is entitled to access the digital program; in response to determining the client device is not entitled to access the digital program:
enabling a first spoiler prevention feature configured to hide at least a part of the information related to the digital program in the corresponding program preview board;
in response to determining that the client device is entitled to access the digital content:
providing a first selectable option for the user to enable or disable a first spoiler prevention feature; and
enabling or disabling the first spoiler prevention feature, based on the user's response to the first selectable option.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a second user request for recording a digital program; and enabling a second spoiler prevention feature, the second spoiler prevention feature configured to hide at least a part of the information related to the digital program in the corresponding program preview board when the digital program is being recorded.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein enabling the second spoiler prevention feature is automatically initiated when the recording of the digital program begins.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the enablement of the second spoiler prevention feature endures throughout the recording of the digital program.

5 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
in response to the second user request, providing a second selectable option in the user interface for the user to enable or disable the second spoiler prevention feature, wherein the second spoiler prevention feature is enabled based on the user's selection of the second spoiler prevention feature.

6 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
generating a recorded program after the recording of the digital program is completed, wherein the second spoiler prevention feature is disabled after the recording of the digital program is completed.

7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
receiving a third user request for playing the recorded program; in response to the third user request, displaying content of the recorded program in the user interface; providing a third selectable option for the user to enable or disable a third spoiler prevention feature, the third spoiler prevention feature configured to hide the part of the information related to the recorded program in the user interface when displaying the content of the recorded program; and enabling the third spoiler prevention feature, based on the user's selection of the third spoiler prevention feature.

8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
receiving a user input for disabling the third spoiler prevention feature; and in response to the user input, disabling the third spoiler prevention feature, based on the user's selection of the third spoiler prevention feature.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the program preview board is a scoreboard, and the part of the information related to the program is a real-time score.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the program is a sport event.

11 . A system, comprising:
one or more processors; and a non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to:
receive a first user request for browsing a program guide for digital programs on a client device;
in response to the first user request, transmit data corresponding to the program guide to the client device;
display the program guide to allow the user to browse the program guide in a user interface, wherein the program guide comprises a plurality of program preview boards, each program preview board corresponding to a digital program or a recorded digital program and comprising information related to the digital program or the recorded digital program;
determine whether the client device is entitled to access the digital program; in response to determining the client device is not entitled to access the digital program:
enable a first spoiler prevention feature configured to hide at least a part of the information related to the digital program in the corresponding program preview board;
in response to determining that the client device is entitled to access the digital content:
provide a first selectable option in the user interface for the user to enable or disable a first spoiler prevention feature; and
enable or disable the first spoiler prevention feature, based on the user's response to the first selectable option.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein, the instructions when executed by the one or more processors further cause the system to:
receive a second user request for recording a digital program; and enable a second spoiler prevention feature, the second spoiler prevention feature configured to hide at least a part of the information related to the digital program in the corresponding program preview board when the digital program is being recorded.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein enabling the second spoiler prevention feature is automatically initiated when the recording of the digital program begins.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the enablement of the second spoiler prevention feature endures throughout the recording of the digital program.

15 . The system of claim 12 , wherein, the instructions when executed by the one or more processors further cause the system to:
in response to the second user request, provide a second selectable option in the user interface for the user to enable or disable the second spoiler prevention feature, wherein the second spoiler prevention feature is enabled based on the user's selection of the second spoiler prevention feature.

16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein, the instructions when executed by the one or more processors further cause the system to:
generate a recorded program after the recording of the digital program is completed, wherein the second spoiler prevention feature is disabled after the recording of the digital program is completed.

17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein, the instructions when executed by the one or more processors further cause the system to:
receive a third user request for playing the recorded program; in response to the third user request, display content of the recorded program in the user interface; provide a third selectable option for the user to enable or disable a third spoiler prevention feature, the third spoiler prevention feature configured to hide the part of the information related to the recorded program in the user interface when displaying the content of the recorded program; and enable the third spoiler prevention feature, based on the user's selection of the third spoiler prevention feature.

18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein, the instructions when executed by the one o

Assignees

• Sling Tv L L C

Inventors

• Holland Kevin
• Vansickel Seth
• Lin Jonathan
• Richardson Liam
• Kumar Amit

Classifications

• H04N21/482 Primary

  End-user interface for programme selection · CPC title

• H04N21/47

  End-user applications · CPC title

• H04N21/47214

  for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market (stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224) · CPC title

• H04N21/4755 Primary

  for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre (retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306) · CPC title